Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
by Charlotte LaBouff
Summary: The 30 Day OTP Challenge, centred around the Vin/Zero dynamic. The chapters are loosely related and following a single storyline, but each chapter is its own concept.
1. We Were On Top Of The World

**Day 1 – Getting Lost Somewhere**

" _Cause it was you and me; we were living the dream as we were seventeen."_

* * *

'This is your fault.'

'No it's _not_.'

'Hey, you're the one who said you could "navigate the wilderness" or whatever.'

'Well, it seemed like a better idea in theory. Sue me.'

'Oh I'll _sue you_ , alright -'

Vin held up a hand, scanning the endless expanse of trees around them. 'Shut up a minute, would you?' Dark clouds were gathering in the sky overhead, and the wind was whistling rather violently around them, making it difficult to focus.

Zero folded her arms and bristled at the bluntness of his statement. 'Care to say that again?'

'Yeah. _Shut up_. I'm thinking.'

'Don't tell me to _shut up -'_

'Could you ignore your self-righteous dignity for _one minute, please?_ I think we're gonna have to go tree-climbing.'

She pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled in frustration, scowling heavily. 'I suggested that five minutes ago, dumbass. But _guess what_ , you didn't seem to agree with me!'

He waved her off, finally turning back to face her. 'Alright, alright, you're clearly the smarter of us. I'm a moron.' He spread his arms akimbo and tried for a placating smile, but was met with one of the most deadpan expressions he had ever seen. 'Can you just go have a look, please?'

Her nose twitched, but she sighed heavily and looked up at the nearest pine tree. 'I'll need a boost.'

'Yeah, alright.' He turned around and linked his hands behind his back so she could climb to his shoulders, before risking a leap to the lowest branch (which was actually pretty damn high, mind you), grabbing on with her hands, and swinging herself up with the grace of a gymnast.

Vin, as always, pretended he wasn't jealous. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he gradually walked backwards through the foliage to better see her scale the length of the tree, right until she disappeared amidst the upper forest canopy.

Damn Pinkerton and its woodland isolation. This had happened _way_ too often to be funny anymore.

'See anything?' he called, squinting to try and see her silhouette through all the leaves, which were whipping back and forth violently in the wind.

It was quiet for a moment, before she replied. 'Yeah, we've gone too far north, but we're close. We'll get back before it gets dark, anyway.'

Well, that was a relief to say in the least. The only reason they had gotten stuck out here in the first place was because of some mad, killer robot thing that Macbeth had set loose, and if it was going to make him late for dinner, he wasn't going to be happy. It was bad enough that they had been out of phone range for most of this escapade, but making him miss Pizza Night was _way_ below the belt.

Zero had begun her trip back down the tree, leaping from branch to branch as she tried to find a suitable path. Finally, when she was about eight or nine feet above the ground, and on the lowest branch, she stopped.

'Well, shit,' she said simply, cocking her head to the side.

'What?' Vin asked, confused. 'I've seen you jump from higher places.'

She scowled at him. 'Yeah, and I was always landing on _someone else_. You have any idea how much this kills your ankles?'

Vin rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. 'Fine, I'll catch you. But lose the boots; they _hurt_.'

She actually looked rather offended about that, but reluctantly unbuckled her combat boots and kicked them off. He wisely chose to dodge them as they fell – they had given his shins more scars than he'd wanted over the years. Personally, he had a bit of a vendetta against them, and with good reason.

Zero looked down at him with an arched brow. 'This is going to hurt you more than me. Just thought you should know.'

' _How?_ I'm _bigger_ than you.'

She scowled. 'No you're not.'

'Dude, I'm taller by an entire _foot_. You had your time, _five years ago_.' He gave her the biggest shit-eating grin he could muster. ' _I'm_ the macho-man now.'

It was safe to say she had no qualms with dropping on top of him after that.

He yelped in surprise as his knees gave out from under him, and his back hit the ground with enough force to wind him for a moment. Zero fell squarely on top of him, and their heads knocked together with a painful _crack_.

In all honesty, this was the kind of compromising position he normally would have loved to be in. But right now? He was more concerned about whether his nose was bleeding.

Though she was breathing rather heavily, Zero started to laugh, her head dropping into the crook of his shoulder to muffle her giggles. And, though he was still aching all over, Vin couldn't help laughing either, because this whole situation was just goddamn _ridiculous._

'Wow, you are _useless_ ,' she told him, bracing her arms on either side of his head to lift herself up slightly. She looked him straight in the eye, blue to blue, and with her usual lopsided grin, repeated, ' _Useless._ '

'Gee, thanks,' he replied sarcastically, poking her nose. 'Much appreciated. By the way, you are _nowhere_ as light as you look. I think my shoulders died.'

She wrinkled her nose and upper lip in a half-arsed attempt at a sneer. 'That's because it's pure muscle, genius. I'm not _Barbie._ '

'And thank God for that,' he agreed. It _was_ true; her strength had gotten them out of more tight situations than he could count.

He had no idea how long they stayed like that – he hadn't been the best at noticing things – but the moment was eventually broken when Zero yelped and rolled off him, looking up at the sky. 'Think it's starting to rain.'

He squinted in an attempt to peer up through the treetops, though it was hard to tell with all the wind. 'Nah, couldn't be.' Not yet, anyway, because that would be just unfair.

And then a great, fat raindrop hit him squarely on the forehead.

Zero tilted her head, looking triumphantly smug. 'You were saying.'

'Oh, shut up. Anyway, it's only spitting.'

Just like that, it promptly began to pour.

Vin most _certainly_ didn't shriek, he was simply _concerned_ about the welfare of his hair. He _had_ spent twenty minutes on it this morning, after all. Zero laughed, getting to her feet and spinning around, embracing the turn of events with nothing short of utter delight. Once Vin had safely situated himself beneath the shelter of the nearest tree, he paused to watch her.

In all honesty, he couldn't blame her for liking the rain. It _did_ feel nice, even if it was destructive to works of art such as himself, and it was clear that Zero seemingly had an appreciation for the simpler things in life.

And it wasn't like simplicity was a bad thing.

The downpour was relentless, the raindrops bouncing back off the ground with the force of small hailstones. Though Zero's hair had been braided, the shorter, loose strands were plastered to her face, and her eyeliner was running down her cheeks. She didn't care.

Seeing her this unashamedly happy stirred something in Vin's chest. He hadn't the faintest clue what it was, and he wasn't all that concerned; in fact it was a rather regular occurrence around her. But this time it felt slightly different. It was like he felt content.

Giving up on trying to save his hair, he walked back out in the rain to stand by her. 'Hey, it's Carrie White,' he said, grinning widely.

She punched his shoulder, though there was no force behind it. 'This is _rain_ , not blood, moron.'

He sighed theatrically. 'Technicalities.'

She rolled her eyes. 'C'mon, I'll race you back.'

'You say that like there's actually a _chance_ of it being a competition.'

'I'll kick your ass and you know it.'

'In your _dreams_.'

'Fine.' She smirked at him, and then took off. He let out a yelp and sprinted after her, shouting obscenities as she laughed.

It took a while, but later that night, as he lay in bed and stared into the dark, he realised something. That feeling, the one he couldn't quite identify, it wasn't just contentment. It wasn't just affection, or caring, or even love. It was a sense of belonging.

To him, she was what _home_ really meant.

* * *

 **Chapter title - "17", Avril Lavigne  
** **Quote - "17", Avril Lavigne**


	2. Our Song Is The Way You Laugh

**These oneshots will be varying lengths because some days writing just kills me, man.**

* * *

 **Day 2 – Pet Names**

" _You send my soul sky high."_

* * *

'Hey, moron.' Zero whacked Vin up the back of his head while he lay dozing with his head on his arms. When he jerked up in surprise, she dumped his biology textbook on the table before him. 'You left this behind.'

He scowled sullenly, rubbing sleepily at his eyes. 'Y'know, I don't think that's such a bad thing.'

'Yeah, whatever. You do you.' She plopped down in the empty chair beside him, leaning against the side of the table. 'Hey.' She clicked her fingers in front of her face. 'Sleepyhead. Wake up.'

' _Lemme'lone_ ,' he mumbled, face already buried back amidst his arms. 'M'sleeping.'

She quirked an eyebrow, a smirk playing on her lips because she knew _exactly_ what was happening here. 'Liar. You just don't want to do this homework.'

He looked back up at her, now seeming oddly alert considering his earlier fatigue. 'Cow. You're a _cow_.'

She grinned impishly, giving him another knock upside the head for good measure. 'And you're a jackass. Go figure.'

* * *

'Zero! _Zero!_ Hey, _BLONDIE!_ '

For someone who prided herself on her observational skills, she really could be dense as a brick wall most of the time. And by "most of the time", Vin meant _all_ of the time.

He hurried down the corridor, breaking into a slight jog as he tried to catch up to her, while she walked with her headphones on and hands stuffed in her jacket pockets. 'Hey, _Zero!_ Miss Grumbleguts! Pain-in-the-ass!' He quickened his pace a little more, unconsciously leaning forward on the balls of his feet. 'Miss Gothic!'

 _That_ , of all things, got her attention. She spun around abruptly, pale eyebrows quirked in surprise, before scowling when she saw him. She pulled off her headphones and sat them around her neck.

'First off all,' she said irritably, 'it's not goth, it's _punk_. There's a _difference_.'

Vin, who had finally caught up to her, skidded to a stop. 'Sorry, I really can't tell.'

She sighed heavily. 'Secondly, I'm busy.'

He folded his arms. 'Busy _walking?_ '

She wrinkled her nose. 'Busy walking to my _bed,_ in which I will hibernate for 36 hours to recover from your annoying habits.'

Vin put a hand over his heart. 'Ooh, that one cut _deep_.'

'Oh, shut up.'

'Can I come? I promise I'll be quiet; Trix and Newton are studying again, and it's boring as shit.'

She thought about it for a moment, seemingly weighing the pros and cons of Vin following her around like a lost puppy. Then she rolled her eyes. 'Alright, fine. But if you talk, you're out. Got it?'

He grinned widely. 'Awesome. But why are you _really_ hibernating?'

'We are _not_ going there, asshole.'

'Love you too, dear.'

He got himself punched for that.

* * *

'Vin, move.'

' _Shh_.'

'Then _move_. You're sitting on my foot.'

'I can't believe you'd _dare_ talk during a Star Wars marathon.'

'Well the prequels are shit anyway, so who cares?'

' _That doesn't mean you can talk whenever you want.'_

'Then get off my frigging foot.'

'Shut up, padawan.'

. . .

. . .

'You did _not_ just say that.'

'You bet your ass I did.'

'You little _shit_. I'm not the padawan, _you're the padawan_. I'm the Jedi master, _obviously_.'

'No, I'd be the master because I'm the cool one.'

'But I can kick your ass, so your point is useless. Being pretty only gets you so far, dumbass.'

'And you'd know, wouldn't you?'

. . .

. . .

'Alright, so either you just called me pretty or a dumbass, and I don't like either of those options.'

'Both. Shut up and take the flattery, padawan.'

' _You're_ the padawan. _I_ get to be Kenobi because _he's_ not a whiny bi-'

'Zero, you know Obi-Wan and Anakin are like, totally gay, right? So if that were a reflection of us . . .'

. . .

. . .

'This conversation is over. Shut up and watch the movie.'

'. . . you know I'm still sitting on your foot, yeah?'

* * *

'You seem to like sleeping here.'

Vin didn't move, though his fingers twitched to show he was listening. Once again he was sprawled across the library table, his face pillowed in his arms. Zero sat on the tabletop beside his hands.

'Guess what?'

He didn't respond, still clearly trying to sleep.

'You're the padawan.'

And just like that, he shot up like a rocket. 'I am NOT -'

That debate lasted a _whole_ extra hour. No lie. But really, she wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

 **Chapter title - "Our Song", Taylor Swift**

 **Quote - "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", Wham!**


	3. It's Gonna Take a Lot to Drag Me Away

**Day 3 – Patching Each Other Up**

" _I look around but it's you I can't replace, I feel so cold and I long for your embrace."_

* * *

'Alright,' Vin said, dropping down onto the duvet with a heavy sigh of resignation, 'here's the deal. I think you're great. I mean, you're my best friend, and I love you and all that, but you already know it and there's no point in repeating stuff. But the point is, you're a bright and capable person, and I'd never doubt you for a second - but _damn it you can be a dumbass_.'

Zero ignored him, clearly both pissed off and embarrassed, but grudgingly let him lift up her mutilated fist and clean off the worst of the blood with a damp tissue. She didn't speak.

Naturally, Vin's head was buzzing with questions. First of all, what the hell happened? Second, why was she dripping blood all over the carpet, and _third_ , why didn't she tell him about it? It was sheer luck that he turned up at her door asking about the math homework, and though she'd tried to get rid of him, he noticed that her pale cheek had been smudged with red. Then shit hit the fan.

'Was it Burt?' he asked, gently turning her hand over and prying her clenched fist open. There was a gaping, clotting gash on the heel of her palm, which suddenly began to bleed again with the movement. He wadded up a tissue and pressed it to the wound, clenching his jaw in an effort to stay calm. He _wasn't_ going to get upset over this. Zero was her own person, and the last thing she needed was for him to get angry on her behalf. In all honesty, it would just annoy her even _more._ 'I mean, it's totally understandable if it was, but you don't always have keep trying to prove yourself with him. We all know you're tough, but sometimes you've just gotta walk away, you know?'

She didn't reply. Instead she just exhaled heavily, looking down at her other hand where it rested in her lap. Vin hesitated for a moment, having an internal debate about whether it would be acceptable or not, before tossing all reason to the wind and taking her hand in his own. His right hand held the bloody tissue to her palm, while his left held her other hand in a gesture that felt painfully odd to him. He wasn't sure what was wrong about it – like, they held hands _all_ the time; it was practically an unconscious sort of gesture for them. But now . . .

'Vin,' Zero began softly, her voice scratchy and exhausted. 'You know I fight my own battles. And I know I do stupid shit, but I learn from it. It's just . . .' She trailed off and exhaled a little, eyes flitting up to meet his. 'Some stuff I've gotta deal with myself.'

Now that she would finally meet his gaze, Vin realised something. His stomach jolted with awful familiarity as his brain mulled over the expression on her face, the painful look in her eyes, and how she seemed . . . well, _resigned_.

'You were talking to your dad, weren't you?' he whispered, briefly squeezing her uninjured hand. Wariness flickered in her eyes for a second, before she grimaced slightly and nodded.

'We just . . . we just don't see eye to eye on a lot of things,' she muttered, looking down again. 'He's impossible.'

Now that the moment was broken, Vin looked back down at the wad of tissues and went back to cleaning up the gashes. 'But how . . .'

'I punched a grate,' she said, sensing his question. She seemed to think about it for a second, before quietly snorting with reluctant laughter. 'You should see the other guy.'

'I'm sure you made that grate regret its life choices,' Vin agreed, now folding up a tissue and wrapping it over her knuckles as a makeshift bandage. After wrapping another over the gash on her palm, he folded both her hands between his own. 'Well, I definitely think you've learned from this,' he said softly. 'Maybe check what you're punching, next time.'

'Fair enough,' she mumbled. She said nothing about the gesture, which was fairly intimate, even for them. Instead she just exhaled quietly and closed her eyes, finally seeming somewhat content.

Vin wasn't stupid enough to let this moment of peace get away. He loved those rare moments where they just sat quietly, only the two of them, and just . . . just _were_. The corners of his lips quirked upward slightly, and he took the time to notice every little detail about her. There were the obvious ones of course; the soft curve of her mouth, her angular cheekbones, the scar that ran through her right eyebrow, her upturned nose, the numerous ear piercings – most of which she had done herself under questionable safety precautions – sure, those details were pretty obvious to the common eye. But Vin, well he liked to look closer. He saw a second, tinier scar beneath her left eye, which was so transparent it was almost lost against her pale skin. He saw how impossibly long her eyelashes were, even if they were invisible without makeup. He saw those tiny changes in shape that kept her face from being symmetrical, kept her face _flawed_ , and yet still noticed how impossibly beautiful she was. Well, that last fact was pretty hard not to notice, to be honest.

And damn it, he knew he was in love. He'd known it for years, and he wasn't an idiot so he kept those feelings hidden deep down where they wouldn't interfere with his inhibitions. And it had worked, for the most part – he could recognise that his feelings wouldn't be reciprocated, and was sensible enough not to do anything that would make him lose her. Some days it even worked so well that he could convince himself he didn't feel that way anymore; that she was his best friend, and that meant more than anything. But then she would do something dumb, like _smile at him_ , and just like that he'd be hit in the chest with feelings like a freight train. It was impossible, really.

He was drawn out of his thoughts when he noticed her hands, which were still clasped in his, squeezed back ever so slightly. Her eyes were still closed, and her face seemed near impossible to read, but that simple gesture spoke volumes to him. He knew exactly what she couldn't say, but desperately wanted to.

 _Thank you_.

Smiling softly, he squeezed back. This, _this_ meant more than anything else really could. And that was why he loved it.

* * *

 **Chapter title - "Africa", Toto**

 **Quote - "Every Breath You Take", The Police**


	4. Smile Even Though You're Sad

**Day 4 – Watching The Other Sleep**

" _Well honey, here comes a lullaby; your very own lullaby."_

* * *

So it went like this: like they usually did, the Invisible Network took advantage of the weekly "movie night" to sabotage Macbeth's lifestyle in any way they could, before returning in time for the film's final plot twist and being appropriately confused by it. That was the way it worked. The rest of the night usually followed a vague routine, too; some kids would have pillows and beanbags, others would bring blankets, most would bring the smuggled food they kept beneath their beds, at least three would fall asleep before the movie finished while a good handful would sit on Facebook the entire time, but the point was everyone made the most of it – taking one day out of the week just to forget about life for a few hours.

It was "nice", Zero supposed, if you wanted to think about it in a gross kind of way. Someone with a more romanticised kind of mind might call it that - like Vin, the sop. She, however, was more or less indifferent about the whole thing. After all she was one of the Facebook kids, not particularly interested in anything on the TV unless it was Die Hard or The Lord of the Rings, and that always pissed Vin off to no end.

'Just watch the movie - you might like it!' he'd say, and she would stare him down with a death glare until he relented with an irritated huff and sprawled out across one of the couches to sulk. And when it came to sprawling, he was a _pro_. Generally Zero prided herself on her ability to hang her limbs from every possible surface like a cat, but Vin was on a whole different level. People already sitting on the couch? No problem, he'd flop length-ways across their legs and kick his feet up onto the armrest, regardless of whether it bothered anyone or not. Or, if he didn't really feel like sprawling on anyone, he'd lie along the back of the couch with one foot hanging down the side. And that was only the start of it all.

Today however, he'd chosen to sit in the middle of one of the three-seater couches, legs thrown over the top of Newton's and back leaning against Zero's shoulder. Well, in truth he'd sunk so low into his slouch over time that his head was now pretty much resting on her hip, but she didn't give enough of a shit to say anything about it. In fact, she didn't really notice until about half an hour later, when gravity finally resulted in his head dropping onto her lap.

She lowered her phone slightly, initially thinking _what the hell_ , before she realised he had well and truly fallen asleep, and as such couldn't really be told off for doing it. In a moment of brief experimentation, she waved her hand over his face, but he didn't so much as flinch.

Dead to the world. Wow.

She thought about it for a moment. She could totally be an asshole and shove him off, because she had a tough, badass reputation to uphold and couldn't be seen _canoodling_ , damn it. But then again, he was kinda heavy, asleep, and well . . . he was _Vin_.

So yeah, she let him stay there. And if anyone gave her any funny looks, she sent them a glare strong enough to set fire to a small navy.

Now, however, she found she couldn't go back to perusing the internet. She tried, sure, but for some reason she kept getting distracted, gaze flickering every now and again to Vin's sleeping face. It was kinda weird.

It actually took her quite a while to realise that her empty hand had drifted down to rest on his chest at some point, and she outwardly frowned when she noticed. That definitely wasn't something she would actively do, and she was surprised that her subconscious had let it happen. So she should _really_ pull her hand away before he woke up.

She should.

It was the smart thing to do.

. . .

So why wasn't she doing it?

Well . . . she supposed she didn't _have_ to, did she? It wasn't like Vin would care – he was about as touch-starved as a person could get. He wouldn't think twice about it. Everyone _else_ , however . . .

Her gaze drifted over to the other side of the room, where Burt was sitting with Van latched onto him rather like an octopus. If _he_ could get away with PDA, then she supposed it really put the whole thing into perspective, didn't it?

 _Screw_ everyone else. She could do whatever she wanted, damn it. And if that meant leaving her hand where it was . . . then that was fine. She'd do that.

With a quiet sigh she turned off her phone and looked down at Vin. His face was softly illuminated by the bluish light coming from the TV, throwing all the hollows and curves into sharper prominence. He seemed so peaceful like this; there were no creases between his eyes from worry, no lines around his mouth from laughing – everything was so beautifully smooth, save for the faint shadow on his jawline. Damn it, it was _really_ unfair how pretty he was, especially when he wasn't trying.

Slightly hesitant, she lifted her hand and very lightly brushed her fingertips along the edge of his face, careful enough so that he didn't stir. An odd kind of feeling settled in her gut – that "warm and fuzzy" thing people would talk about that she'd always scoff at. And yet, despite her previous opinions, she didn't reject it. It was probably because she was tired, anyway. Obviously. Why _else_ would she feel like this?

So, while it still went against all of her common sense, she carefully rested her hand against his collarbone, which was exposed from the neckline of his flannel shirt. The warmth beneath her fingers felt comforting – the kind of comfort she had come to expect from Vin over the years. It was the comfort of familiarity, the comfort of affection, the comfort of – to a degree – attraction.

(Keep in mind that he was _very_ pretty.)

This was okay, she decided. She could very faintly feel the distant thrum of his pulse at his throat, and that constant beat helped steady her thoughts. Eventually her eyes slipped closed. She breathed in.

In this short moment of vulnerability, she could imagine that she could always do this – reach out and touch, feel that sense of _mineminemine_ , and actually _believe_ it. That one day, that comfort would never leave her.

She breathed out.

* * *

 **Chapter title: "Death of a Bachelor", Panic! at the Disco**

 **Quote: "Lullaby", Nickelback**


	5. Time After Time

**Since Vin's already done the traditional fairytale, I decided to take us back to the eighties, so this totally fits in with all the chapter titles 'n' shit.**

* * *

 **Day 5 – In A Fairytale**

" _We found Wonderland; you and I got lost in it."_

* * *

Most fairytales started with a "once upon a time", or at the very least gave you a pretty good depiction of a female protagonist caught floundering amidst her life troubles. This one started with a crash, a shriek of 'Vin! Come fix the toaster!', and a teenage boy covering his head with a pillow as he tried to sleep. Not the standard format, to say in the least.

Meet Vin Williams, a blond-haired, blue-eyed, Welsh-American boy who, while not being your standard Cinderella, was stuck living the lifestyle appropriate to it. Vin had grown up an orphan for the first ten years of his life, knowing nothing about his birth parents save for the fact that they'd left him a medallion with the Welsh coat of arms engraved on one side. And believe him on this – being an orphan in the 70s _sucked._ However, not long before he turned eleven he'd been taken in for fostering by a hawk of a woman named Sadie Macbeth (who, mind you, just totally wanted the government benefits). Vin never really decided if that was an improvement or not. While the orphanage had been a bitter, lonely place, and he had always longed for a home of his own, Macbeth was a dreadful "parent". She'd treated him more like a servant than a child for the last seven years, having him be the one to handle errands and chores far beyond a lot of his capabilities, when ideally he should have been more concerned about things like school friends, and sports.

Despite the way things were however, Vin was a happy kid. When he was about twelve he had decided that this was just Fate trying to balance out how ridiculously good-looking he was. At least, that was what he told himself.

Eventually deciding that lying in bed wasn't really worth it anymore, Vin grudgingly rolled to his feet and pulled on a t-shirt, before shuffling downstairs to deal with the toaster situation.

While he may have hated living there, Vin didn't mind the actual house itself. It was standard, middle-class suburbia lifestyle, and Macbeth didn't really care if he lugged his boombox and cassettes around with him while he worked. However, that may just have been because she was rarely home, gone most days and quite a few nights, working at a boarding school on the other side of town. Just sometimes it was the little things that bugged him; like how they still had a 1985 calendar pinned to the wall when it was the beginning of 1988, or how the TV never worked, and he had to keep jiggling the antenna to get a few minutes of midday soap operas – that's if he was _lucky._ But there were things that he liked, too. Like how he could get out the door at eight am sharp and not have to come back for _seven whole hours_.

It was the little things.

Today he got out the door at seven forty-five, and really, that was _fantastic_. He could loiter on his way to school, maybe listen to an entire side of his Men at Work tape while he walked, then sit under the tree by the cafeteria and pretend he wasn't staring at Zero Toriello. Seemed like a pretty good plan, actually.

And so he did. By the time he got to school, he still had two whole songs left on the tape, so he set the boombox down on the grass and sprawled beside it, feeling somewhat content.

Zero Toriello was one hell of a girl. No one really knew anything about her for sure, as she dressed like a total badass and scared everyone away, but most had her theories. There were rumours that she'd stabbed a guy, others could have sworn she was part of some cult, but at least the story about her "accidentally" blowing up the chemistry building at her last school was true. Vin had been hanging around the park across the road just as everything went up in flames, and _man_ it was show. A week later she turned up at Pinkerton, hands stuffed in pockets and a colossal scowl on her face. Vin was instantly smitten.

Most were under the impression that she was either an albino Italian, or Norwegian, or both since she was extremely pale. Vin honestly didn't know, though he had suspicions that the Italian assumption was more correct, as he'd heard her shout words in another language that straight off the bat he knew were insults. It was all a bit confusing for him.

But back to the point – she was _so cool_. Think Ace McShane from Doctor Who, but ten times more punk, and you've got Zero. She was the whole shebang; knee high boots, a white t-shirt tucked into a black skirt, and an awesome leather jacket. She always sat by herself on top of one of the picnic tables, leaning against her boombox while she pored over motorbike magazines.

And every single day, Vin would watch her read those damn magazines like a total stalker. He'd never gotten caught, which was the best bit. Well, never gotten caught until _now_.

He was leaning against the tree, trying to appear as effortlessly careless as possible to passersby while the boombox blared "Who Can It Be Now", glancing over at her from time to time. He quickly looked away just as Cathy Brown walked passed, chucking her a suave grin and a wink. As predicted, it flustered her enough to look away, and he could glance back over at Zero without being judged.

She was still sitting there on the tabletop, one knee drawn up to her chest, her hands propped behind her. Her black aviators were balanced on the tip of her nose, and her brow was raised slightly. And then Vin realised she was looking straight at him.

Oh shit.

Feeling his face flame up, he immediately looked away, stumbling in his hurry pretending to fuss with the boombox. After a minute or so, when he felt it was safe, he peered over his arm to see what was going on.

Her expression was impervious as ever, and she surveyed him for a minute when their eyes met. Then she raised one hand, and crooked a finger.

 _Get over here._

What? Vin blinked stupidly for a moment, looking around to see if there was anyone behind him. There wasn't. So he turned back to her and pointed to himself, mouthing, ' _me?'_

She nodded shortly.

 _Holy shit_. He'd never actually talked to her before, and now he was absolutely freaking terrified. What would he say? What would he do? What did she _want?_

Well, that bit was obvious – he'd been caught staring, and now he was in deep shit. Go figure.

Swallowing awkwardly, he straightened up and ran a hand through his hair, before plucking up the courage and walking over. He was trying for his best "hey, didn't see you there. How you doin'?" kind of look, desperately hoping it would have some kind of effect on her.

It didn't.

'What's so interesting, pretty boy?' she asked drily when he reached the table.

Vin was a bit surprised by her voice – for some reason he'd been expecting one of those heavy New York accents, but her voice was oddly smooth and articulate. In fact, it was probably clearer than anyone's he'd ever heard, and he lived with _Sadie British Macbeth._ Yet whenever he heard her yelling in another language (Italian? Maybe?) across the courtyard, her accent was completely different.

She pushed her aviators back up the bridge of her nose and reached into her pocket, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. She lit one and took a drag. Vin floundered for a bit, but when he didn't answer, she continued, exhaling the smoke as she spoke. 'Pull something funny, I _dare_ you.'

Vin shook his head abruptly. 'No, nothing funny,' he said quickly, scratching the back of his neck. 'I-I was just -'

'I don't think we've met,' she interrupted, looking at him critically. She offered her hand. 'Zero.'

He shook it. 'Vin -'

'Don't know, don't care. Now go away, and don't let me catch you staring again.' She raised an eyebrow. 'Got it?'

Vin, slightly startled by the conversation's change in direction, nodded quickly, releasing her hand. 'Yeah -yeah. Got it.'

'Cigarette?'

'No, thanks.'

'Suit yourself. Now scram.'

* * *

A few weeks later found Vin making a game plan. For what, you ask? Well, it'd sound a bit stupid if you boiled it down to "escape the house and go to the ball", but that was literally what it was. The school was holding an end of year dance – the sort of thing that was meant to say "woohoo, you survived exams", but people were still more concerned about prom than some random dance on a Friday night. But then again, a dance was a dance, and any chance to get out of the house and get some social time was good enough for Vin. It was just a shame that the "masked ball" concept was so lame.

But that totally didn't mean that he wasn't going to do it.

He had gone thrift shopping earlier that day, thinking that an Elvis theme would fit pretty good. And it did; he had a full "Jailhouse Rock" ensemble going on within half an hour, and even better – Macbeth was on the night shift tonight. So it was easy enough to comb his hair, make a mask from a strip of black fabric, and strap his boombox to his bike (he _really_ didn't want to go anywhere without it) without arousing suspicion.

After all, there was no suspicion to arouse.

By the time he got there, the sun had set and the party was in full swing, the music loud enough to be heard from a block away. Vin hid his bike (and subsequent boombox) behind a tree where it would be out of sight, and went into the gym where the noise was coming from.

It was the kind of night he really needed. He was out of the house, had full access to the sugar on the confectionery table, and was getting some awesome socialisation with completely random people because everyone was wearing a mask. It was kind of awesome, actually – definitely beat staying at home and washing dishes.

Vin had been at the dance for about two hours before he retired to the back wall with a plastic cup of (probably spiked) punch. He wasn't alone there – several people who found the commotion to be too much were sitting on various chairs, happy enough just to talk.

And then, Vin realised something totally weird.

 _Zero_ was here? Not to go ahead making assumptions, but Vin had thought this would be the last place on _earth_ she would show her face. It wasn't like she seemed like a party person, after all. But she was here in her usual getup, and . . . and her hair was _teased_. Sweet Jesus, Vin was pretty sure he was going to have heart failure, she looked _that_ good.

And so, because he was totally hopped up on sugar, he decided it would be a good idea to go and say hello.

'Man, I always thought you looked good any old day, but you look goddamn _awesome_ right now.'

In the least, Vin expected to be scowled at, or perhaps punched. What he _didn't_ expect was for her to blink in surprise, and actually go a little pink beneath the multicoloured lights. ' _What?_ '

'It's a compliment, I promise I'm not tryin' to be gross,' he added hastily, leaning beside her on the wall.

She shook her head, seemingly ignoring what he just said. 'And who the hell are you?'

'Nobody,' was his simple reply. He figured this would probably be a good time to start a fresh slate, to say in the least.

She arched a brow. 'Drama queen, much?'

He couldn't help the slight snort of laughter that escaped him at that. 'Wow, that's one way of putting it.'

'It is,' she agreed, 'but you didn't answer my question? Who're you?'

'Hey, it's a _masked_ ball, lady,' he replied, tapping the black cloth over his eyes knowingly. 'Which I notice _you_ haven't complied with.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Masks are lame.'

'Hey, I think that too, but it's still kinda fun. Anyway, I'm actually surprised that you're here. What gives?'

She shrugged indifferently, stuffing her hands into her jacket pockets. 'Needed to get out of the house. Don't read too much into it.'

'I won't. That's actually why I'm here, too.'

'Really?'

'Yeah.'

She looked down at their feet for a long moment, before glancing at Vin out of the corner of her eyes. 'You wanna get out of here? It's kinda gross.'

'That'd be a good idea,' he admitted. 'There's uh, a tree not far from here. I brought my boombox.'

She looked up at him incredulously, a tiny smile tugging on the corners of her lips. ' _Why?_ '

He shrugged a little. 'It's all I've really got that's _mine_ , y'know? I'm pretty attached to it.'

'Fair enough. Lead the way.'

So they sat out in the grass, surrounded by darkness and only just able to see the light of the gym from where they were. Vin fumbled blindly through his collection of tapes, unable to see, before picking one out at random and putting it on.

It took a total of two seconds for Zero to mumble, ' _Cyndi Lauper?_ ' and nudge his shoulder. ' _Really?_ '

'I can't see!' he cried defensively. 'But how the hell did you recognise it that quickly?' She abruptly went quiet, and he felt his jaw drop open in shock. 'Wait a second, you _like_ _Cyndi Lauper?_ No way!'

'You are in no position to judge me, you're the one who owns the damn tape,' she countered. He could see her eyes gleaming brightly in the dark, and she seemed rather embarrassed.

'I'm not gonna be a hypocrite,' he told her. 'I think Cyndi is frigging _awesome -_ I mean, this is a mixtape I made myself. And I'm glad that someone _cool_ shares my opinion.'

'You think I'm cool?'

'Dude, I've had the biggest crush on you since I found out you were the one who blew up the chemistry classroom at that other school.'

'Huh.' She sounded amused.

He didn't really have an issue in telling her that, since she had no clue who he really was. Besides, this was the most fun he'd had in a _very_ long time, and he wasn't about to spoil it.

'And besides, now we're both sitting here bonding over Cyndi Lauper. You're my new favourite person.'

She leaned back against the tree and looked at him oddly. 'Have I met you before? You seem familiar.'

'Eherm . . .' He floundered for a moment, unsure of what to say.

She waved him off. 'Never mind, you won't talk. Who cares.'

'Yeah, who cares,' he echoed, a funny feeling settling in the bottom of his stomach.

They sat there for hours, talking about whatever came to mind and rewinding the tape every time it finished. Vin told her about what it was like to be raised an orphan, and she admitted that her dad had the tendency to be a bit of an asshole.

'I actually stole his car to get here tonight,' she said. 'He's gonna kill me when I get home.'

While Vin still wouldn't tell her his name, he found himself talking about almost everything else. He realised that he'd never actually had someone to talk about it to before. It was nice.

But that ended all too soon.

A clocktower nearby let out a series of chimes to indicate that it was midnight and Vin sat up abruptly, feeling horrified.

' _Shit_ ,' he breathed. Macbeth was going to be home soon. And she'd _kill_ him if she saw he hadn't finished the chores while she was away. ' _Shitshitshit -'_ He scrambled to his feet, heading straight for his bike. 'I'm so sorry,' he told Zero, 'I've gotta go. Curfew – well, kinda. Uh -'

' _Wait!_ ' She got to her feet, looking confused. 'Why -?'

'I'm sorry, I have to go -'

'Well _wait a second_ -' She bit her lip, seemingly debating with herself, before running across the grass to where he stood and grabbing him by the jacket lapels. He barely had time to let out a noise of surprise before she yanked him down into an intense kiss that sent electricity straight to his toes.

He lost track of time for a moment, instinctively kissing back and bringing a hand up to cup the soft line of her jaw.

The bell then chimed again, successfully jerking him out of the moment.

 _Holy shit_.

'I've got to go,' he stammered, pulling away and getting onto his bike. 'I'm sorry –'

And with that, he turned and rode off into the dark.

* * *

The next few days went very slowly for Vin. He fell back into routine, however now when he sat beneath the tree it was in silence, because _somehow_ he forgot his goddamn boombox. It kind of stung, in all honesty.

Zero still sat on her table, but now the motorbike magazines went ignored. She looked around the schoolyard, apparently cataloguing every single person there and seeming to be . . . well, _annoyed_. Vin didn't talk to her. He figured it was better this way, as it would probably ruin the whole experience to find out that "boombox guy" was actually "annoying blonde guy under the tree". Well, that was how it was in his eyes, anyway.

And then things changed.

'Hey, you _.'_

Vin looked up. Zero was standing beside him, arms folded. 'Hey. What's up?'

'You seen a guy looking for a boombox?' She was fidgeting slightly where she stood, and Vin realised that there was none of the hostility in her eyes that he had come to expect.

'No,' he replied, the lie coming surprisingly easily to him. 'I haven't heard anything. Sorry.'

She sighed a little, furrowing her brow, before – weirdly enough – dropping down onto the grass beside him. 'So I met this guy the other night, and he _actually_ left his goddamn boombox behind. _Who forgets a boombox?'_

'An idiot?' Vin supplied, still very confused as to why she was talking to him.

She nodded slightly, seemingly lost in thought. 'Mmh. I really liked him too, and he just _took off_. I mean, _really_.'

'He sounds like a moron.'

She snorted. 'If you say so.' She got back to her feet, before looking back down at him and biting her lip. 'Oh, and I'm sorry for being a bitch the other day. That's my personality, and my personality is shit so that's what you get. Sorry.'

He waved her off. 'Don't worry about it. I'll keep an eye out, yeah?'

'You will?'

'Yeah.' He grinned slightly. 'I think you're pretty cool, so I'll do you a favour.'

'Thanks, Finn.'

'It's Vin.'

She smirked. 'I know. Just messing with you.'

* * *

Vin had no clue what changed his mind. It might have been his conscience, which hadn't stopped nagging him from the moment he left that night. It might have been the desire to spite his common sense, which was telling him _not_ to go. It might have been the memory of her smiling at him, _knowing he was Vin,_ and how it warmed him up inside.

He really wasn't sure.

But now, he was standing outside the shabby little house beside the corner store, making sure that the black, beat-up truck was the same one he sometimes saw at school. Then finally, he sucked up what little courage he had and began to sing.

' _If you're lost, you can look, and you will find me . . . time after time . . .'_

There was an abrupt crash from inside the house, rather close to the front door.

' _If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting . . . time after time . . .'_

Then the nearest window flew open with surprising speed, and Zero peered out.

'WhyareyoustandingoutsidemyhousesingingCyndiLauper?' she asked breathlessly, eyes wide.

He grinned. 'Because I knew you'd recognise it in a heartbeat.'

She narrowed her eyes. 'Elaborate.'

He spread his arms. 'The cassette inside that boombox is a mixtape of Cyndi Lauper songs. That was the first song on it. And you like Cyndi Lauper, so I just crossed my fingers and hoped you'd be able to hear me.'

She blinked. 'The Elvis-boombox guy,' she said. 'He's you?'

He winced, scuffing his shoe against the pavement. 'Uh, yeah. I didn't want to tell you because I know you don't like me -'

'Shut up,' she interrupted. And then the window closed.

He knew it. He'd blown it. He _shouldn't have listened to his conscience damn it -_

The front door opened, and she ran out toward him faster than he could process it. He wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but the sharp blow to his shoulder _really_ should have been at the top of that list.

' _Why didn't you say anything?'_ she hissed incredulously, looking up at him with wide, frustrated eyes. 'You were _right there_ -'

'It's because I'm a coward,' he told her flatly. 'I'm a coward, okay?'

She froze, processing that statement. And then, came a quiet, simple, 'Okay.'

'Okay what?'

'Okay.'

It was all a bit of a blur after that. Everything went quiet, and then one of them moved – or perhaps they both did – and before he knew it they were kissing again. It was something that made him feel so intensely warm inside that he couldn't really think straight, only know that _this is real this is mine_ -

' _Vin. VIN.'_

Real.

' _Vin.'_

He jerked in surprise, eyes flying open to see Zero peering down at him, eyebrow raised. 'Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.'

He rubbed his eyes blearily, attempting to gain his bearings somewhat. 'Wait, what?'

'Movie's over. You should to to bed.'

'Movie?'

'Yeah. Movie night. You fell asleep.'

He then realised that he was lying on the couch in the lounge room, and for some _weird_ reason, his head was in Zero's lap.

'I had the strangest dream,' he mumbled, before letting out a yawn.

She tilted her head at him. 'I'll believe you, just for the love of God _please_ don't share.'

He winced in revulsion. 'Ew, not like _that_.'

'Alright. Well, get up. I wanna go to bed.'

He sat up, rubbing his eyes again while she stretched out her back. Then, an odd thought occurred to him.

'Hey, Zero?'

'M'yeah?'

'What do you think of Cyndi Lauper?'

She blinked at him. 'Did you _really_ just ask me that question? What is this, the eighties?'

'Just answer the question.'

She shrugged. 'Yeah, I guess I like her.' She paused for a moment. 'Tell anyone and I'll kill you.'

'Naturally.'

* * *

 **Chapter title - "Time After Time", Cyndi Lauper**

 **Quote - "Wonderland", Taylor Swift**


	6. Just Stay Here In This Moment

**Just a short little scene today, as I've been very busy and haven't had time to write.**

* * *

 **Day 6 – Hugging**

" _Time on my hands could be time spent with you."_

* * *

Zero had learnt a lot of things in her short life. She'd learnt about loss, she'd learnt about struggle. She knew that hiding meant cowardice, and that opening up to someone was weakness. She knew how to defend herself. She knew that if a man grabbed her by the shoulder, she had to beat the ever-loving _shit_ out of him because his intentions clearly wouldn't be for the better. She knew when to run away. But most of all, she knew that the world could be cruel.

Yet despite everything she understood and the life lessons she'd learnt, she didn't know much about love. Not just romantic love – platonic love, familial love, and just affection in general. It wasn't like she really expected herself to – she was still young, and she hadn't been raised in a particularly healthy lifestyle, so she felt her behaviour in a lot of situations was perfectly reasonable. She just wished a lot of the time that she knew better.

She did, however, know this:

Vin understood it. Vin was patient. _Vin helped._

'You sure you don't want to talk about it?'

'No.'

'Alright. Take your time.' He exhaled softly and rested his chin on her head, not saying anything when she tightened her arms around his waist. _This_ was why he was her best friend – he let her take the time to sort her head out when her emotions were particularly jumbled, more than happy to take the time out of his day and offer whatever he could. And if that was just a goddamn _hug_ , then that was fine.

From an outsider's perspective, this would appear understandably weird – Zero Toriello, the queen of "Touch Me and I'll Kill You," had a weakness for hugs on the rare occasion. Go figure. However, at the moment she was less than okay, having just gotten off the phone with her father. The conversation had been pretty brutal, and in an effort to refrain from getting violent, she could only think to seek out Vin in the hopes that he could help.

And, funnily enough, he did. The whole hug thing was his idea, naturally, but something about it managed to steady the adrenaline pumping through her; quell the anger simmering in her gut. Damn it, something about it just felt _good._ Sue her for having _feelings, okay?_

'Thanks,' she mumbled after a moment. 'I really needed that.' She didn't let go.

'Don't worry about it,' Vin replied. 'I mean, it's healthier than punching something, don't you think?' His fingertips traced lazy circles at the base of her spine, and it was oddly comforting.

'Probably,' she admitted. 'But bloody fists prove to the world that you're badass. I always thought hugs were kind of weird.'

He snorted slightly, his fingers stilling momentarily before resuming their pattern. 'That's bullshit and you know it.'

'Fair enough.'

'Does this mean we'll be doing this . . . like, more often? Because that's fine, if you want to.'

'Someone's getting ahead of himself,' she mumbled. 'But probably, yeah. I've been trying this new thing called "thinking", and it's a bit more existential than I'd prepared myself for.'

she felt his whole body start to shake with suppressed laughter, his hands tightening slightly on her waist. 'Wow, I did _not_ expect that sentence to come out of your mouth. What's "thinking" like, then?'

'It's pretty lame. Don't try it.'

'Sounds fair. We'll leave that to Trix and Newton, huh?'

'I won't argue with that.'

'Alright.' He rested his chin back atop her head, making a contented hum in the back of his throat.

Vin always helped, in his own weird kind of way. And _hell_ , it was nice.

* * *

 **Title: "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing", Aerosmith**

 **Quote: "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues", Elton John**


	7. Some Days I Don't Know

**I'm getting back on the ball, I swear. There will be 30 chapters by the end of the 30 days, just a little haphazard.**

* * *

 **Day 7 – Hospital Visits**

" _Oh, I am what I am; I'll do what I want, but I can't hide."_

* * *

'On the list of dumb things you've done, I'd say this is one of the top three at least.'

Vin fidgeted miserably, pointedly ignoring Zero as she paced around the stuffy, curtained confines of the ER, hands on hips. After a moment she paused, raising her eyebrow at him.

'Do you know if the orphanage is going to pay for this, or will you just have crippling debt for the next thirty years?'

'Probably the second one,' he muttered quietly, shrugging a little. 'I dunno.'

Her nose twitched. 'Well neither do I; I don't know _squat_ about finance, but I'm pretty sure this isn't gonna be good.' She thought about it for a moment, before sighing heavily and sitting down beside him on the hospital cot. 'Maybe it won't be too bad. I mean, it's just a fracture.'

'Maybe,' Vin echoed. 'But, y'know, this is the kind of country that doesn't have an ideal healthcare system, so who knows, really.'

'True.'

He scratched the back of his neck with the hand that wasn't presently swaddled in gauze, glancing out the window. 'Look, it's late. You should take the others and go; Soper's sorting out the paperwork so I'll be fine -'

Zero glared at him, a noise of furious indignation escaping her. 'Are you _kidding_ me? I waited _two hours_ in that damn waiting room – hell, Trixie got so bored she painted a new set of eyebrows on me!' She jabbed a finger to her forehead, indicating the two ash-blonde shapes above her smudgy black eyeshadow. 'Look at this! It's _awful!'_

Vin leaned forward for a closer look, squinting slightly. 'I dunno, she did a pretty good job.' He cracked a weak grin. ' _You're_ just disorientated because you _actually_ have eyebrows now.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Oh, shut up. Point is, I'm not going anywhere. Not unless you're coming with me.'

' _Awwwww_.' He nudged her foot with his. 'Look at you, being so _caring_.'

That drew a scowl from her, and she kicked his shin.

'Hey, kick all you like, but that doesn't change anything.'

'I haven't gone soft, if that's what you're wondering,' she muttered grumpily. 'I just . . . I just don't like hospitals.' She huffed out a short breath, staring at her knees. 'Don't like the idea of you being stuck here.'

That sobered him slightly, and he tilted his head. 'Look, it's not so bad. I don't mind, really. I'll be fine.'

'I _know_ you'll be fine, moron, but that doesn't change how I feel about it.'

He thought about it for a while. 'You know, I just realised you're getting a pretty good idea of what it's like to be in my position.' When she frowned at him in question, he continued. 'I mean, you're always getting hurt doing what you do, and I'm the one who always patches you up.' He gave a minute shrug of the shoulders. 'I worry a lot, you know?'

She huffed in frustration, looking up at the ceiling. 'Yeah but I never end up in the _hospital._ '

'That's because you _refuse to go_.'

'That's not – it's – _ugh_ – it's . . . it's complicated.'

'Zero Toriello, I've known you for seven freaking years. _Try me.'_

'It's just . . .' She picked at her fingernails, not looking at Vin. 'I'm scared that they'll . . . y'know, _find something_ , and then social services will get involved and I _really_ don't want that . . . it's messy.'

Vin considered that for a moment, absently inspecting his wrapped wrist. 'I get where you're coming from, so I'm not gonna try to give advice. I dunno, really. You're situation's kind of . . . weird.'

'Which is exactly why I'm leaving it alone,' she groused. 'And you will, too. Got it?'

He sighed. 'Yeah. I don't like it, but I've got it. Now go home.'

' _Don't. Even. Try.'_

There was a long, silent standoff while the two of them scowled at each other. Then Vin groaned. ' _Fine._ Stay, then. I don't care.'

(That was definitely a lie.)

She smirked at him, saying nothing.

'At least _try_ to be sympathetic if you're gonna hang around.'

'When have I _ever_ been sympathetic?'

'That's true.' He let out a long, suffering sigh and let his head drop sideways to rest on her shoulder, closing his eyes tiredly. 'But today can be a first.'

'. . . Fine. I guess so.'

* * *

 **Chapter title: "Little Talks", Of Monsters And Men**

 **Quote: "Here With Me", Dido**


	8. Guess I'm A Bad Liar

**Day 8 – Having a Lazy Day**

" _You're all the things I've got to remember."_

* * *

 _Knock, knock, knock._

'Hey, uh, I don't know if you're awake, but Trixie said you were still in bed so I thought I'd harass you into getting up. It's lunch time, you know.'

'Piss off, Vin.'

'. . . uh, that wasn't a part of the plan.'

There was no reply, so Vin hesitated outside of the door before speaking again.

'Alright, well, I'm coming in, so if you're not decent it's your fault.'

What greeted him when he pushed it open was somewhat to his expectations. The room was in absolute chaos – clothes were strewn over the bed and floor, dog-eared books were sitting open across the desk, a shoe was hanging from the ceiling fan (how it got there, he wasn't going to ask), and in the centre of the room was a pile of blankets. Amidst that pile Zero was sitting in splits, elbows propped up on a pillow as she browsed her phone. She scowled at him without speaking, and the shadows beneath her eyes became painfully obvious.

Vin carefully picked his way through the mess, nonchalantly kicking aside a bra before sitting down opposite her. He made a gesture, indicating the fact that she was _literally_ sitting in splits without an issue, before speaking. 'First of all, you're a freak.' That, at least, drew a reluctant snort from her. 'Secondly, you didn't sleep last night, did you?'

'Give the boy a medal,' was her dry response. She put the phone down, tilting her head at him thoughtfully. 'You know, I think I watched _every single_ goddamn cat video that _ever_ existed last night. I've officially transcended the fifth dimension. I see cats in every shadow.'

' _And whose fault is that, I wonder?_ '

'Newton's, for sending me some GIF at two am and starting this whole damn thing.'

That caught him off guard, and he blinked stupidly at her for a moment before frowning. 'Okay, maybe not your fault, then. But you seem . . . very calm. Normally you're prepared to cut a bitch if you get no sleep.'

'Normally, yes. But I really don't care right now.'

Vin sighed heavily. 'I'm sure there's some sort of psychological reasoning behind this but whatever. You need to sleep, man.'

'A minute ago you were trying to get me up.'

'Yeah, well that was before I knew what was going on.' He stood back up, before yanking some of the blankets from beneath her. 'We'll start with this.'

She let out a rather loud shriek of surprise and fell backward, before growling and folding her arms. ' _Was that necessary?'_

'Yes,' he replied crisply, brushing the stray clothes off the bed and arranging the blankets in their place. As an afterthought, he picked up the pillow she was no longer leaning on and put it at the head of the bed. 'Now move your ass.'

'Dickhead,' she muttered bitterly, scowling at him. 'You can't just leave well enough alone, can you?'

'Nope,' he agreed, levelling her with a steady gaze and tilting his head. 'If you don't move– well, we both know I'm more than capable of picking you up. How badly do you wanna keep your dignity?'

A dull flush rose in her cheeks, but Vin more or less expected that. Over the years, he had become practically immune to any level of threat Zero had once posed, and now that he was _literally_ the bigger person of the two of them, there was little she could do to frighten him.

Except, you know, give him feelings. And that always scared the ever-loving _shit_ out of him.

She got to her feet, but something about it seemed rather defeated. ' _God, you piss me off_ ,' she told him, shaking her head and narrowing her eyes at him.

He felt a small twinge of guilt at that, and extended his hand toward her without really meaning to. 'I just want to help,' he found himself mumbling as he brushed their hands together. 'I know it can be rough.'

She exhaled heavily, looking down. 'Yeah, I know.'

'Would the dreams bother you if I was here?'

Her eyes snapped back up to meet his. 'How did you know? A-and what does _that_ mean?'

Vin swallowed awkwardly, trying for a nonchalant shrug. 'I, uh, I could stay, if you wanted. If . . . if you want.'

She stared at him for the longest time, expression unreadable. When she spoke, her voice was surprisingly soft. 'It takes a lot of balls to say something like that.'

That caught him off guard, and he hesitated, scratching the back of his neck. 'It takes a lot of balls to say yes.'

' _Of course I've got balls_ ,' she snapped immediately, before blinking. 'Metaphorically. Ew. Whatever. The point is, you can stay.'

He was startled into laughing and sank weakly down onto the bed, a hand over his eyes. ' _Wow._ That's one of the weirdest conversations I've ever had.'

'Shut up,' she mumbled, sitting down beside him. ' _Shut up_. I didn't mean to say that.'

'Alright, alright.' He grinned at her, before awkwardly holding out a hand. 'Doesn't make it any less funny, though.'

She looked at his hand while she spoke, cheeks still rather pink. 'You say a lot of dumb shit, man. You can't talk.' Then, surprisingly, she took the offer, lacing their fingers together so that their palms were flush. She looked met his eyes. 'If you're snore, I _swear to God_ you're getting kicked out.'

He shook his head emphatically, still grinning. 'Nope. Never.'

'You better mean that.'

'Would I ever lie to you?'

'That's easily the dumbest question you've ever asked. Now shut up.'

* * *

 **Chapter title: "Bad Liar", Selena Gomez**

 **Quote: "Take On Me", a-ha**


	9. Let Us Die Young Or Let Us Live Forever

**Shut up I'm churning out chapters as we speak. THEY'RE COMING I SWEAR**

* * *

 **Day 9 – Sleeping In**

 _"I'm counting the steps to the door of your heart._ "

* * *

The sun was beginning to set outside the window when Vin finally woke, bathing the bedroom with an orange glow. He felt uncomfortably groggy, like one always did after taking a nap during the day, and there was an irritating ache in his lower back. He instinctively began to sit up, before freezing abruptly and glancing around.

Nope. Not his room.

And, he realised belatedly, the warm weight pressing against his side wasn't a figment of his imagination. Recollection came back to him, and he glanced over. Sure enough, Zero was more or less attached to his side at every point possible, latched onto him like some strange sort of sea creature. The odd analogy made his lips quirk upward in amusement, despite the fact that they – platonic friendship be damned – were _literally_ cuddling. Sure, they had their moments holding hands and hugging and whatever, but _cuddling?_ That was a bit different.

However, "different" or not, that didn't change the fact that her face was buried into the side of his neck, that her arm was draped across his chest, or that their feet were tangled. She hadn't been stirred by his earlier attempt to sit up, which clearly said something about how tired she had been. Whatever embarrassment Vin may have felt earlier immediately dissipated, replaced by a sense of comfort that the situation was looking up. And hey, he wasn't entirely opposed to the touching, either.

This was okay, he decided. Though it was a situation that was clearly out of the norm, it wasn't an unwelcome one. And hey, he might as well make the most of it while it lasted, because when Zero woke up and realised that she was a perpetual _burrower_ when she slept, the moment would be over, just like that. Because, best friend or not, Zero Toriello did _not_ cuddle. Period.

Vin exhaled quietly, tipping his head sideways so his cheek rested on the top of her head, and resisting the urge to loop his arm around her waist and draw her closer. Like, it _was_ technically an option, since she was already lying on top of his arm, but he figured the movement would most likely wake her, and that was the last thing he wanted. So he contented himself with thinking about the _what if's,_ pretending that one day he could have this for real. That they could wake up together and it would be a _deliberate_ thing, not just because they fell asleep by chance. That he could lean down and kiss her forehead, because that was something they just _did_. That they could do stupid couple-y things like wait for each other after class, or talk about the future, or be wrapped up together in the same jacket. Sue him, he was a romantic, okay?

However, the more he thought about it, the more he realised that Zero really wasn't that kind of person. Sure, she had a love for hugs that she would never admit to, and was rather preferential to oversized hoodies when left to her own devices, but he couldn't really see her being affectionate on a particularly large scale. But then again, he had never seen her with cause to behave that way, so there really was no telling.

Zero stirred slightly in her sleep, mumbling inaudibly as she buried her nose further into the side of his neck. Her fingers curled in the front of his shirt, making his heart clench painfully. This – _this_ was why he'd never really let himself wonder before. Because when he had to face the truth, and accept that he could never really love her the way he wanted to, it goddamn broke his heart. And every time he realised that, the worse he felt whenever she smiled, whenever she laughed, whenever she held his hand.

But he couldn't help that. He could never help being in love.

* * *

 **Chapter title: "Forever Young", Alphaville**

 **Quote: "Don't Dream It's Over", Crowded House**


	10. You Spin Me Right Round, Baby

**Day 10 – Roughousing**

" _Somehow it's a little different when I'm with you."_

* * *

'This is your fault.'

'Are you _kidding_ me? _You're_ the reason we got caught.'

' _Am not_. We'd have gotten away if you had kept watch like you were supposed to.'

'Hey, _you_ were the one supposed to keep watch. I was gonna go in an -'

'You know what, wasn't Newton supposed to -'

' _Newton was supposed to -'_

' _Damn it._ '

Zero scowled, stuffing her hands in her pockets. Vin, who was sitting atop the nearest washing machine, was sporting a similar expression. 'Then _he's_ the one who should be doing freaking _laundry duty!_ '

'There's no helping it, man,' Vin groused. 'You know Soper's mind can't be changed when it comes to our poor taste in pranks.'

' _Ugh_.' She aimed a kick at the nearest basket of clothing, but missed by half a metre since the effort was so half-assed. Vin snorted, shooting her a lazy grin when she glared at him. 'I am _so_ gonna get Newton,' she grumbled. 'I'm gonna wring his skinny little neck.'

'Seconded. I hate laundry.'

'Everyone hates laundry, dumbass.'

' _You're_ the dumbass.'

'Yeah right. Is that the best comeback you've got?'

He poked his tongue out at her, and she made a noise of indignation.

'You're _so_ petty.'

'Petty's my middle name, baby,' he replied easily, sliding off the washing machine and lifting the lid, before dumping one of the baskets of clothing into it.

Zero huffed a sigh and went back to sorting out her own basket, rolling her eyes as she did so. Then, once she was certain he was no longer paying attention to her, she grabbed a block of soap from the counter top and pegged it at his head. It hit its target perfectly with a loud _clunk_ , and Vin let out a particularly loud yell of annoyance.

'Now _that_ ,' he told her, jabbing a finger in her direction, 'was _petty_.'

Just to drive the point home, she stuck her tongue out.

Apparently the best response Vin could think of was to launch a dishtowel at her head, which was absolutely _pathetic_. When she pointed this out to him, he then proceeded to launch _himself_ over the basket separating them, tackling her into the colossal pile of bed sheets on the floor behind them.

After that, it got a bit chaotic. Well, that didn't really say much – it _always_ got chaotic when they play-fought – but this time it was a little more reckless since the blankets provided a suitable crash barrier. Ordinarily, Zero would expect to come out on top in situations such as these. However, over the years Vin had become pretty good at matching her in strength and agility, making the scales a little more even – and as such, more fun.

They wrestled for a bit, worn down slightly by the fact that they had sunk rather deep into the mountain of sheets. Eventually Zero managed to scramble into a relatively upright position and duck beneath Vin's arm, before grabbing a broom and holding it before her like a staff. 'Ha. Come at me _now_.'

Vin immediately snatched up a mop, spluttering when its wayward head smacked him in the face. Once he had recovered some sense of decorum, and Zero had stopped laughing, he huffed and replied, 'You've just resorted to this because you're so freaking short. Go figure.'

She ignored the jab at her height, choosing instead to take a swing with the broom, which he dodged. 'You've completely missed the fact that down here I can murder your shins. _Go figure_.'

'Only bitter people come up with excuses.' He gave her the biggest shit-eating grin, before feinting a jab to her left.

She nearly fell for it, flinching only slightly before shooting him a scowl. 'Yeah, well, back when I was taller, you couldn't do jack _shit_ , man. I think that speaks volumes.'

'I think it speaks volumes about growth spurts,' he replied smoothly, grabbing a small towel from the bench with his spare hand, 'and the fact that _you_ haven't had one _since_.'

She couldn't really help her jaw dropping open there. 'Now _that_ was low.'

'All's fair in love and war.' He gave his mop an extravagant flourish. ' _En garde!_ '

'I'm not gonna frigging _joust_ you with a _broom_ , dipshit,' she groused, tilting her head at him.

'Speak for yourself,' he replied, reluctantly tossing it aside. 'I think it's a _brilliant_ idea.'

'Let me continue to stress that you have _bad_ taste.'

'Again -' Easily as breathing he flicked the towel at her ass, making her yelp in surprise. ' - you speak for yourself.' When she scowled, he cracked a grin, wriggling his eyebrows.

'You're impossible,' she groaned, huffing a sigh.

'And don't I know it.'

She pegged another bar of soap at him.

* * *

 **Chapter Title: "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", Dead or Alive**

 **Quote: "Rock N Roll", Avril Lavigne**


	11. Reminds Me of Childhood Memories

**Day 11 – A Death of Someone Close**

" _I just didn't want to stay here and unhook the stars._ _"_

Scuffing his shoes against the battered wood of Soper's office porch wasn't doing anything to relieve Vin's nerves. He felt like he'd been waiting an eternity, even though it probably hadn't been more than twenty minutes at the most. When the door finally swung open and Zero emerged, her face was curiously blank, and she completely ignored him as she strode back toward the dormitories, hands stuffed in her jacket pockets.

It took Vin a long moment to process what had just happened, before he hurried after her, tension rising.

'Zero? You okay?'

She didn't answer, only lowering her head slightly in a quiet indication that she'd heard him.

'You're not in trouble for anything again, are you? How many wallets did you steal during the summer?' He'd hoped that the quip would get something – _anything_ – from her, but her face didn't budge, still terrifyingly expressionless. It unnerved Vin so much more than he would have liked to admit. 'Zero?' He cautiously reached out to take her hand.

His fingers had barely brushed hers when she yanked her hand away, with a sharp, ' _Don't._ ' Her jaw was tensing, like she was resisting the urge to grind her teeth. When they reached the door to the main building, she shoved it open with more force than necessary, before stalking up the main staircase and out of sight. Vin hesitated for a moment, before following her.

He found her in sitting at the foot of her bed, legs folded beneath her and hands balled into fists, eyes squeezed tightly shut. He quietly shut the door behind him, before pulling up a chair so he could sit before her. As an afterthought, he picked up a blanket from the floor and draped it over her shoulders. She looked up at him beneath her eyelashes for a brief moment, before exhaling quietly and relaxing her hands.

'May I?' Vin asked softly, risking a gentle touch to her palm. She didn't respond.

Then, so minute it was almost unnoticeable, she gave a single nod.

He curled his hands around hers and turned them so her palms were facing upward, carefully tracing his thumbs over the angry, red grooves her fingernails had left in them. 'You don't have to talk if you don't want to,' he told her, not meeting her eyes. 'I just think it might help. You know, if you just let it out.'

There was several minutes of silence. Vin simply sat there, tracing small, indecipherable patterns on her hands until she finally spoke.

'Dad's gone.'

It took a very long moment, but when it finally clicked, he paused for a second. 'You mean . . . ?'

'The idiot rear-ended another car. Don't know what else I should've expected.'

 _Oh_. 'How . . . how are you feeling? I know you didn't get along, but . . .'

'I don't know,' she admitted, finally looking up to meet his eyes. It was only for a second, before she looked back down at her lap once more. 'I . . . I thought I hated him. I mean . . . he beat me up and shit, but . . .' She exhaled heavily, shrugging a shoulder. 'He . . . he wasn't so bad before he started drinking, you know? I just . . . just don't know how to feel.'

He went back to tracing her hands, hoping the sensation would help ground her in some way or another. 'I'm sorry. It must . . .'

'Suck?' she supplied, giving a bitter laugh. 'You could say that.'

'Do . . . Do you know what's going to happen to you?'

The corner of her mouth twitched downward. 'I'll have to go live with _il mia Nonna_ , but only as long as I have to. I never really liked her, either, so . . .'

'No other family?'

'Only in Italy.'

'Oh.'

The silence returned. Vin eventually slowed his tracing, choosing to simply lace their fingers together.

'Is it guilt?' he asked after a moment. 'Is that why you're confused?'

She glanced briefly up at him, hands shaking slightly. 'I guess so. I . . . I hadn't talked to him since we fought last.'

He leaned forward slightly, unconsciously reaching up to touch her cheek. 'Zero. . . ?'

'I never even got to say goodbye,' she whispered, and her voice cracked on the last few words. 'I never . . .'

He immediately pulled her into a strong hug, letting her bury her face in his shoulder. And then, with little else to say, she could finally cry.


	12. If We've Got Nothing, We've Got Us

**Day 12 – Teaching The Other How To Do Something**

" _Please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognise anywhere."_

* * *

'Oh man, don't tell me you're the kind of person who just sits around the whole time at a _party_.'

Zero raised an eyebrow at Vin's statement, before rolling her eyes. 'I'll sit around if I _want to_ , thanks.'

'C'mon, at least say you'll dance. Everyone dances at weddings.'

'It's not a wedding, moron.'

'Same difference. Come on, dance with me!'

No, it wasn't _technically_ a wedding, though it might as well have been. Trixie's parents had chosen to renew their vows, and because of the high-class lifestyle they led, they also wanted to make a big deal of it. Hence, the reception that followed. Trixie had begged for Vin, Zero and Newton to come, mainly because she didn't want to spend a whole night swamped by people she didn't know, and also because _hey, it's a party_.

A party, Zero could live with. But this was the sort of occasion where one had to be "gussied up", as Trixie said, and hence she had been subjected to the horrors of curling irons and makeup brushes. Also, since Zero probably hadn't worn a dress since she was six, she was loaned one of Trixie's that was slightly too long in the leg. It was all a bit much, really, but she'd been comfortable enough once she found the buffet table.

'I don't dance,' she told Vin petulantly, folding her arms.

'Is that because you _choose_ not to, or because you _can't?_ '

'Both? I dunno, whatever.'

He tilted his head slightly, a rather odd look on his face. It seemed almost . . . _fond_ , with something else underlying it that she couldn't quite decipher. 'You know,' he said quietly, 'you look _so damn beautiful_ right now, and I think it'd be a real shame if you didn't let me have at least _one_ dance.'

She fidgeted uncomfortably. 'I actually think I'm wearing ten pounds of makeup right now. I feel like a Barbie or something.'

'And while it's different,' he agreed, 'you still look great. Where'd you get the dress?'

She quirked an eyebrow. 'Trixie. What, you actually thought I'd _own_ something this nice?'

'True. But back to my question.' He offered a hand with an affected air, the corner of his mouth pulled up in a grin. 'Will you dance with me?'

She watched him for a moment, chewing her lip as she ran through the pros and cons in her head. Eventually, she was won over by the fact that learning to walk in heels without falling over was probably a useful asset to have. And hey, if it went badly, she could always stab Vin through the foot with one of them. That was definitely a perk.

'Alright,' she said eventually, taking his hand and getting to her feet. 'But I _can't_ walk in a straight line whatsoever. On your own head be it.'

'I'll keep you upright, then,' he replied easily. 'And maybe you can learn to dance while we're at it.'

'I mean it when I say I don't know how. I've never done it before in my life.'

'That's really not an issue,' he said again. 'They taught us at the orphanage.'

Of _course_ Vin would know how to dance – he was the biggest goddamn romantic she had ever met. He loved the idea of flowers and dancing and just being a freaking _gentleman_. It was a little hard for her to wrap her head around it sometimes, considering she was so crass and rather rough around the edges. Not to mention she _literally_ came off the streets. She was about as feral as a kid could get, and next to Vin . . . well, sometimes it really showed.

He led her to the throng of people in the middle of the room, before coming to a stop and turning to face her. 'First lesson,' he said simply. 'Hands on my shoulders.'

She did that, feeling slightly disgruntled at how he much taller he was than her, even with the heels she had reluctantly worn at Trixie's insistence.

'Now you're gonna step forward on your left, then back again on your right . . .'

Later, she realised that this whole dancing thing really wasn't so bad. Sure, she was so awful that Vin only taught her the most rudimentary form of waltz, which was little more than some sort of backward-forward shuffle, but it was alright. Somehow she found herself staying for more than one song, happy enough to awkwardly fumble around on her lanky legs and roll an ankle or two. She knew she wouldn't have done it with anyone else – really, she wouldn't have even _considered_ dancing with anyone else. Because while Vin could be a bit of a tosser sometimes, he was _her_ tosser, and she found that had a rather substantial effect on her decision-making process. She really didn't mind, because those feelings had been something she'd never really been able to get rid of.

So it was okay. She could let herself have this; keep it while it lasted, however long that would be.

However, she could never really shake the nagging feeling that it wouldn't, and she knew it. It was something she'd come to terms with over time, but it didn't change how she felt about it.

She was snapped from her thoughts as Vin raised an arm to spin her around, and she awkwardly fumbled around on her heels, making them both burst into a fit of laughter.

Whatever might come of it, whatever may happen – right now, this was good. And that was all she needed.

* * *

 **Chapter Title: "Something I Need", OneRepublic**

 **Quote: "New Year's Day", Taylor Swift**


	13. Don't Go Breaking My Heart

**Day 13 – One of Them is Sick**

" _Someone told me long ago there's a calm before the storm."_

* * *

'C'mon, budge over.'

' _Nghhhh . . ._ '

'Calm down, I'm not going anywhere. Just move over a bit, would you?'

' _Mmmph . . .'_

Zero gave Vin a nudge, trying to adjust herself so she was sitting comfortably with her computer on her lap. Unfortunately, the heavily fevered and semi-delirious Vin was more preoccupied with burying his face into her waist and sleeping the worst of the problems off. She was pretty much fine with it, but her back had started to ache a little after the first hour and the situation really needed to be remedied.

'Alright, I'm good now. Go back to sleep.'

' _Mnnhhh . . ._ '

Contagious or not, Zero liked to consider herself a shitty-but-not- _too-_ shitty kind of friend, so she had the decency to provide herself as a human heater when the situation called for it. She was well aware that she was putting her own health on the line by doing it, but honestly, she didn't care. Besides, for all she knew this was just a case of the man-flu, and he'd be over it by the morning anyway. It _really_ wasn't an issue to her. Besides . . . he was currently latched onto her with all the strength his flimsy, fevered limbs could muster, and she couldn't deny that she liked the attention.

But then again, she thought, he might have just been attaching himself to the nearest warm body like some kind of limpet, and she was probably reading too far into it.

She huffed a sigh, absently threading a hand through his sweaty hair. Whether Vin felt that way or not didn't really matter, since she was so emotionally constipated that any kind of relationship beyond platonic wouldn't work out. She was . . . well, she was _Zero_. She had run away from home at _ten years old_ , for Christ's sake! That really said something about her commitment levels, whatever that might be. And that certainly wasn't the only problem. Her temper was certainly one thing to contend with, along with the emotional baggage that had come out of living with her dad.

She knew she wasn't half the kind of person he deserved, but she continued to be selfish and steal moments like these. Go figure.

Vin mumbled something incoherent, screwing up his eyes and somehow managing to bury his nose further into her midriff. His arms tightened around her waist for a brief moment, before loosening again.

'Go to _sleep_ ,' she told him, unable to keep affection from bleeding into her tone. ' _Seriously_ , dude.'

So he did.

* * *

Zero had contented herself with scrolling through Tumblr and reading Star Wars theories until he woke up again an hour later, somewhat more alert.

'Zero?'

'That's my name, don't wear it out.'

He huffed a quiet laugh, not bothering to lift his head whatsoever. 'S warm.'

'Yeah, I can't really help that. You'll be cold again before you know it; I wouldn't stress about it.'

'Mmph.' He took a moment to think about that, blinking up at her groggily. Then: 'S'you stayed?'

'Obviously.'

'. . . t'you . . .'

'No problem.' She ruffled his hair affectionately and gave him a small smile. 'Though if I get sick it's your fault.'

'Hmm.' He exhaled and settled back against her. Then he giggled, clearly still somewhat delirious. 'So hot.'

She quirked an eyebrow, quietly amused. 'You reckon?'

'S'not what I meant . . .' he mumbled, his mouth still pulled into some funny approximation of a smile. '. . . meant . . . I'meant . . . ugh . . .'

'Take your time, big guy.' She didn't so much as pause in her scrolling, one hand still absently sitting in his hair.

After a long while, he finally managed to string some sort of coherent sentence together. The funny thing was, Zero was pretty sure he had actually fallen asleep halfway through, and woken up again before actually managing to finish it. Still, what came out of his mouth caught her rather off guard.

'You're m'favourite person,' he mumbled, blinking sleepily. 'M'favourite, 'n' I love you . . . 'cause you're cool . . . 'n' you're pretty 'n' smart . . . 'n' you're my favourite . . .'

When Zero could finally process that, she blinked stupidly. 'I, uh, think you repeated a few things there.'

'I love you,' he repeated, trying to seem insistent despite the fact that he was clearly drifting off to sleep once more.

Well, there went her heart. 'You don't mean that, man,' she said softly, withdrawing her hand from his hair. 'You're off your head on NyQuil, and you're not thinking straight -'

'Mnnphh . . .'

She wasn't really able to figure out what he meant by that particular grunt, and sighed quietly, shaking her head. 'Yeah, whatever. Just . . . just go back to sleep, okay? You'll feel better in the morning.'

He fumbled clumsily, clearly searching for her hand. 'Promise?'

She took it, understanding what he was after, and reluctantly curled their fingers together. 'Promise.'

He seemed somewhat content with that. Not letting go of her hand, his eyes fluttered shut, and he went back to sleep.

Zero watched him for a moment, before turning her attention back to the computer and pretending that she now wasn't downright miserable.

* * *

 **Chapter Title: "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", Elton John**

 **Quote: "Have You Ever Seen The Rain", Creedence Clearwater Revival**


	14. First We Run, Then We Laugh 'Til We Cry

**Day 14 – Getting Flowers for the Other**

 _"Everything I'll ever do I'll do for you."_

* * *

Zero folded her arms and tilted her head to the side, quirking an eyebrow. 'Is there a reason you're upside down?'

Vin cracked a grin as he hung from the tallest bar on the grounds, his hands behind his back. 'Cause I felt like it.'

She smirked slightly. 'That also happens to be _my_ bar.'

'What are we, five?' His grin broadened, though his face was going a little red from all of the blood rushing to his head. 'Besides, it got your attention, didn't it?'

'I s'pose. But why do you need it?'

'Because.' He never actually followed it up with a plausible reason, instead choosing to swing back and forth slightly.

'Well?'

'Got'chu something.' He then took his hands out from behind his back with an extravagant flourish, revealing something delicate and white sitting in his palm.

Zero blinked, slightly befuddled. 'Is that . . . ?'

He had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. 'Don't say you're too cool for flowers because that's bullshit; everyone likes flowers, even if they pretend they don't.' He then held his hand out toward her, indicating the flower. 'Besides, this one's pretty. Even _you_ can't deny that.'

Still rather unsure of what was actually going on, Zero hesitantly took the flower from him. It had large, white petals that curved inward, and the centre was slightly pink. It _was_ rather pretty. She tilted her head, trying to keep the heat from going to her cheeks. 'I, um . . . really? Uh, thanks. What is it?'

'A magnolia,' he answered proudly, seeming rather relieved that she'd accepted it. Now with his hands free, he gripped the bar and swung down to stand before her on the ground. 'Erm, d'you like it?'

'Yeah,' she admitted, and _oh god she was definitely blushing now_. 'Yeah, I do. But . . . why flowers?'

He shrugged slightly, clearly still a bit embarrassed. 'I dunno, actually. I just saw it and thought . . .'

'Thanks,' she mumbled again. She _really_ didn't know what to do, here. No one had ever given her something like this before, and it had completely thrown her off course. First of all, what was it supposed to _mean?_

Well, in all honesty it probably meant that Vin actually saw her as a _girl_ , not just a friend that embraced tomboyish behaviour. That was nice, she supposed. While she wasn't a girly person, she wasn't entirely opposed to it, and even something as stupidly simple as a flower made her feel . . . well, _happy_. Was that weird?

No, she supposed. It really shouldn't be.

Cupping the flower in both of her hands, she watched it for a while, before looking up at Vin and grinning.

* * *

After that, it became kind of a _thing_. She realised, over time, that Vin just really _liked_ bringing her flowers. He would find all sorts out in the forest, in the eco-dome, around the grounds, and he'd collect them to give to her. In all honesty he kind of reminded her of a bird, searching for pretty things. And the funny thing was, she actually _really_ liked it. Because, while she had spent the first few years of her life in a semi-suitable environment, she was pretty unfamiliar with the concept of _gifts_. Her dad had never bothered, and her mom had taken off when she was still fairly young, so being given anything of sentimental value was rather odd for her. So these flowers . . . they actually meant rather a lot.

Not that she'd ever admit it to anyone other than Vin. She did have a reputation to uphold, after all.

* * *

 **Chapter Title: "You Get What You Give", New Radicals**

 **Quote: "The Look", Roxette**


	15. Never Thought I'd Meet A Girl Like You

**Day 15 – Overhearing The Other Singing**

" _Love's so strange, so real in the dark; think of the tender things that we were working on."_

* * *

Like Zero, Vin tended to think he was too cool for a lot of things. Because, while being a complete, utter _dork_ when they were alone, he felt the need to uphold some sort of suave, charming "Jesse Katsopolis" kind of vibe when interacting with other people. Despite that however, he never, _never_ sung on principle. It seemed that, dork or not, it was something that he never wanted to be caught doing.

So, naturally, Zero had no idea what the hell was going on when she heard him mumbling to himself in the library rather late at night. She had gone looking for him, figuring that he was going to pull an all-nighter to finish the Biology assignment that was due tomorrow, and sure enough, found him in his own corner of the library, books strewn out around him, with his earphones in and clearly tired as hell. He didn't notice her standing a litte while away (though she didn't exactly make her presence particularly obvious), and after a while of watching she realised that the mumbling had a tune to it.

Oh.

He didn't have a bad voice, actually. It was . . . well, it was _nice_. Slightly surprised, seeing that this was somethig she hadn't exactly thought about before, she folded her arms and leaned against the wall, hidden in the shadows. Vin was clearly still in his own bubble, and didn't notice.

' _. . ._ _drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry . . .'_

Zero wasn't a natural-minded romantic, so it didn't occur to her how profound this moment was until a lot later. At the time, all that really crossed her thoughts was " _Well, whaddya know,"_ in that affectionate kind of way; that strange, "deep and meaningful" kind of feelings she had reserved just for him. It was a bit difficult to explain.

' _. . . and them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing this'll be the day that I die . . .'_

Unable to keep a small, rueful smile from tugging on the corners of her lips, she tilted her head a bit, closing her eyes and just listening to him. She stood there for a long while, drifting between her own thoughts and the words he was singing, feeling – for the first time in a while – peaceful. It was contentment, she realised; what he made her feel, it was _content_. She was _at home_ , and while not in the literal sense, it was all that she really wanted – all that she _needed_.

She stood there for a long time, but she didn't really notice. It wasn't important.

' _So bye, bye Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levee . . .'_

* * *

'She is _so damn lucky_ everyone's outside right now,' Vin muttered, following the heavy sound of bass guitar reverberating through the halls which, _funnily enough_ , led him straight to Zero's room. He paused just outside, slightly surprised that the door had been left wide open – almost like she had forgotten that anyone else existed at the moment.

Not entirely surprised that the music she was blasting at full volume was in fact _Nickelback_ , he peered cautiously around the doorframe. The whole room was in chaos, as per usual, and Zero was in the middle of it all, too busy enthusiastically singing alone to notice him.

That was a _good_ thing, mind you, because if she caught him watching her doing something as odd as this, she'd probably castrate him. And it was _definitely_ odd behaviour for Zero. She wasn't an "enthusiastic" kind of person. It seemed that was something specially reserved for _Nickelback_. Odd.

He grinned slightly, rather delighted to be witness to such an occasion. And whether she was a good singer . . . well, that was a matter of opinion. _He_ certainly thought so, but that was probably bias on his part because he didn't actually _mind_ her taste in music. It was defintiely a subjective kind of question.

' _. . ._ _'Cause nobody wants to be the last one there; 'cause everyone wants to feel likes someone cares . . .'_

He moved back out of the doorframe, choosing instead to stay just out of sight and sit down in the hall, leaning his head back against the wall. He closed his eyes, still grinning a little. That wasn't something he could really get rid of easily. Seeing her so carefree always made him feel a special kind of happy – one he'd never been able to explain properly. But he loved it. He damn well _loved it_ , and he wouldn't change that for the world.

' _. . ._ _someone to love with my life in their hands; there's gotta be somebody for me like that . . .'_

* * *

 **Chapter Title: "I Ran", Flock of Seagulls**

 **Vin's Song: "American Pie", Don McLean**

 **Zero's Song: "Gotta Be Somebody", Nickelback**

 **Quote: "Don't You (Forget About Me)", Simple Minds**


	16. I'm Not Gonna Lose You

**Day 16 – Arguing**

" _Someday, somehow, I'm gonna make it alright, but not right now."_

* * *

'No, don't walk away! You don't _get_ to walk away, damnit! _Just PLEASE_ _listen_ _to me!'_

'Don't you _DARE_ tell me what I can and can't do. Don't you _dare_.'

'Then at least tell me why the hell you think this is a good idea. _Please._ '

'Oh _I'll tell you WHY -'_ With a vicious growl, Zero kicked the frame of Vin's closed door, frustration bleeding from her in a choking wave. 'I'll tell you _why_ ,' she hissed, her fists curling into an iron grip on her jacket sleeves. 'I've got a _goddamn EXPIRATION DATE on my head, THAT'S why!'_

'That doesn't explain why you think you've gotta leave!' Vin laced his hands behind his head and tipped it back, screwing his eyes up so he didn't have to see the furious look on her face. 'That doesn't explain why you want to _leave me behind!_ '

'Don't you _get it_ , jackass? I don't have a _choice_ here!'

He exhaled sharply, reluctantly looking down at her again. 'Don't call me that. I need you to calm down before you say something -'

'Don't _tell me WHAT TO DO -'_

' _Stop YELLING!'_ He was so frustrated he was afraid he might actually cry, so he strode forward until he was standing right before her – something stupidly risky, knowing her short fuse. 'Just please _breathe. Please.'_

He wasn't sure what did it, but something behind her eyes shifted, and she uncurled her hands. She took one deep breath, then a second, visibly trembling from nerves.

'I don't have any time left,' she muttered finally, not meeting his eyes. 'I . . . I've been thinking about it for a while.'

'Thinking about what?' he prodded softly, resisting the urge to pull her into a hug and just _forget everything._

She shrugged a little, seeming to become smaller and smaller the longer she stood there. Suddenly Vin realised just how _tiny_ she was, standing there in her oversized leather jacket, her hair loose over her shoulders. Her personality made her seem so much bigger, so much _tougher_ , but when it came down to it . . . she was just an ordinary girl. Just Zero.

'They're gonna come looking for me one day,' she said. 'Social services. And I _can't_ go to _Nonna_ , now that Dad's gone. I always hated her.'

He chewed his lip. 'But you're almost an adult. You'll only have to wait a little while, and then you can go your own way. What makes you think you have to call quits now?'

She hung her head, seeming almost . . . almost _ashamed_. 'I just . . . I just _can't stay_.'

'But _why?_ ' he asked, tone almost pleading. 'What about _me?_ Trix? Newton? You just wanna leave us?'

'Yes.' Now her voice was clipped, and she started to turn away. 'I can't _deal_ with this anymore, Vin.'

'Deal with _what?_ ' He reached out and caught her wrist, afraid she would slip away if he didn't do something about it. 'If you've got problems, _talk to me_ about them. Don't just . . . don't just _leave_.' He couldn't keep his voice from trembling any longer, and his words started to crack. 'Don't _leave_ me.'

Her eyes seemed rather glossy, now that he was this close. He brought one hand up to cradle her jaw, and ran his thumb alone her cheekbone. That seemed to be the final straw, and an unbidden tear slipped down her cheek. He carefully brushed it away.

'Don't do this,' she whispered, voice choking. 'Don't do this to me. Don't make me _choose;_ it's already hard enough, and -'

'But why does it have to be a _choice?_ Why can't -'

She let out a strangled noise of frustration, bringing her own hand up to curl around his, before pulling it away. Vin let it be moved, but curled their fingers together regardless. 'I can spend _so long_ trying to make a decision, and right when I want to go through with it you always look at me with those goddamn _puppy eyes_ and I just _can't_ – it's so -'

'You don't have to _leave_ ,' he told her fiercely. 'Wait 'til school's over. Then you have that freedom, and it'll be different than if you just took off now -'

'I'm doing this for _myself_ , Vin! I _need_ this -'

'What's upsetting you so much about this? About _this life, here,_ where you're _safe?'_ He felt a flutter of panic as she started to move away, drawing her hand out of his. Her face was tensing up again, like she was close to another outburst. He swallowed down the lump in his throat, breathing shakily as she started to turn away. ' _Why_ is it so painful?'

' _Because I'm IN LOVE WITH YOU!'_ she cried furiously, snapping back around. The tears were flooding openly now, and she drew in a shaking gasp. 'I'm _so_ damn in _love_ with you, and I just _can't deal with that anymore!_ _Jesus_ , it just – it just _hurts,_ and I have to get _away_ from that!'

There was a second of sharp silence where Vin could only feel his heartbeat in his ears, broken up by her shuddering breaths. Then, without even having to think about it, he carefully raised his hands to cup her jaw once more; cradling the soft curves of her face with such gentleness that only seemed to make her cry harder. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, unable to keep one traitorous tear from escaping, and huffed a quiet, bitter laugh in spite of it all. Deciding to just _screw it_ , he then leaned forward and kissed her softly.

She made a startled noise even though the kiss was over as quickly as it began, and when he opened his eyes she was looking at him with a stunned expression, cheeks still pink with anger.

'That's not how I'd imagined it would go,' he muttered in spite of himself. ' _No way_ was I crying in this scenario.'

Though she couldn't help the little snort of laughter that escaped her, Zero started shaking her head. 'No, no, no, this is wrong – I _can't_ , Vin -'

'Give me _one_ good reason _,'_ he protested, meeting her eyes desperately. ' _One.'_

'You deserve so much better.' The response was immediate, like it had been mulled over for quite some time. 'You deserve _so_ much better than what I can give you. I'm _screwed up_ , Vin. I was a shit of a kid, and I'm a shit of a teenager now – and that probably won't _ever_ change. I – I have anger issues, and I'm _really_ bad at coping with change, and I want to run away from everything _all the time -_ '

He brushed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip, which made her cut off from her spiel. 'Those are all things I already know about you,' he said quietly. 'And they're all things I've come to love and accept. You know that, right? I see _no_ goddamn reason why _you_ , the person I care about _most_ in the whole _freaking_ world, think I should hate you for them.' He frowned thoughtfully as she shook her head in incredulous disbelief. 'If anything, _I'm_ the one who doesn't deserve _you_. I'm a moron who tries too hard, and likes to stir up trouble, and I don't know _anything_ about how the world works. But you're so smart, and beautiful, and sharp, and funny – and damn it, I swear I fell in love with you the moment I met you.' He bit his lip, looking at her pointedly. 'You are _everything_ to me.'

She hiccuped, all the while seeming to process what he had said. 'God, you're such a fucking _romantic_ ,' she mumbled, letting her forehead drop against his tiredly. 'You always make the grandest gestures and I have no damn clue how to respond.'

'I'm . . . I'm assuming that's a good thing?'

'Yeah.' She closed her eyes and breathed slowly, finally seeming to calm down. 'Yeah, it is.'

He tilted her head up a bit so that their noses brushed. 'Well, then, can we try that kiss thing again? Because I _refuse_ to cry this time -'

She snorted, a tiny grin tugging on her lips, before looping her arms around the back of his neck and cutting him off with her mouth, kissing him carefully like she still had no idea what the hell was going on. Vin responded with no shortage of enthusiasm, moving his hands down to rest on the curve of her waist, before deciding that this angle was _really bad_ for his neck, and shifting them down to her thighs to hoist her up.

She made a noise of surprise, breaking the kiss to raise an eyebrow at him, despite locking her legs around his midriff. Her expression was now somewhat long-suffering. ' _Really?_ You just _have_ to rub that in, huh?'

'It's bad for my neck,' he protested, unable to keep from grinning. 'I _swear_. Besides -' He spun them around, proceeding to deposit her on the desk to their left. 'Now I can do this.'

She made a noise that pretty well translated to "fair enough", shrugging slightly as she considered it. 'Whatever.'

'Are you _really_ bothered if I pick you up?' he asked honestly, nosing the corner of her jaw. 'Because I won't if it annoys you, but I'm not gonna lie, I _really_ like it.'

She gave a mock sigh, arms tightening around his neck slightly. ' _Well . . ._ '

'Let me rephrase: how badly does it hurt your bad-girl dignity?'

'A lot,' she admitted. He paused, looking up at her with a slight pout. 'Oh man, the goddamn _puppy eyes_ – that's _not_ fair. You know what, this conversation is gonna be relocated to another time.'

'So there'll be another time to _have_ this conversation,' he questioned, kissing the corner of her mouth. 'Meaning that you're staying? You're staying with me?'

'Do you _honestly_ think I would kiss you if I was going to ditch you afterwards?'

He cracked a grin. 'I dunno . . . you can be a bit unpredictable.'

'Asshole.' She scowled at him, but there was no venom behind it.

He only grinned wider, leaning in to kiss her again, this time slow and deep. 'Stay. Stay with me.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Fine. But only because you'd be lost without me.'

'And don't I know it.'

* * *

 **Chapter Title: "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now", Starship**

 **Quote: "Someday", Nickelback**


	17. You're The Reason Why I Sing This Song

**I'm looking after my aunt's cat and I _actually_ think it's stoned or something. I've never seen a cat that doesn't bother to use its own limbs.**

* * *

 **Day 17 – Wearing The Other's Clothes**

" _Who could blame me, when I just want to make you smile."_

* * *

Zero hadn't exactly planned on falling asleep in the library, but when she was stirred into wakefulness by a warm weight settling across her shoulders, she realised that had been the case all the same. Blinking groggily, she lifted her head from her folded arms to see Vin settling into the chair next to her, putting his books on the table. After a moment she realised he had draped his jacket over her shoulders, which was what had woken her.

'It's cold,' he said softly, in answer to her questioning gaze.

'Not really,' she mumbled in response, propping herself up on one elbow. 'It's not too bad in here.'

He shrugged nonchalantly. 'It's the gesture that counts, isn't it?'

She squinted at him in a scrutinising manner, tilting her head slightly. Then it clicked, and she felt her mouth drop open in a little _o_. ' _You_ just wanted to give me your letterman jacket, _didn't you?_ '

He had the grace to look a little embarrassed, and ducked his head. 'Says who? It's _cold._ '

'Then _you_ wear it.'

He rested his forearms on the table, leaning forward to meet her gaze levelly. 'Tell me, what kind of douchebag person doesn't give his girlfriend his jacket when it's cold? Besides -' He grinned cheekily, tapping his fingers against the wood. 'It looks good on you.'

She let out a long-suffering sigh and rolled her eyes, but saw no reason to continue arguing. 'Man, you're so _traditional_.' Regardless, that didn't stop her from pulling the jacket a little tighter around her shoulders. 'Besides, I thought _you_ were the girl in this relationship.'

'And I would agree with you,' he replied easily, 'but _I'm_ not the one who's 5'5".'

'Oh, shut up.'

His mouth curved into something small and fond, and he looked at her for a moment before shifting his chair so that he was right beside her. 'Hey.'

'Haven't we already established that?'

'Not technically. I mean, I could do this properly: Hi honey, how was your day?'

'Call me "honey" again and it's gonna be one hell of a lot worse for you.'

'Naturally.' He pressed his shoulder against hers, just to be extra annoying. She huffed in mild exasperation, and that only made him grin wider.

'Excuse me,' Zero said, looking at him sideways through slightly narrowed eyes, 'but did you _want_ something?'

He nudged her shoulder again and when she finally turned her head to look at him properly, that grin went megawatt. 'I think it's pretty obvious.'

She tried to roll her eyes again, but that was pretty well ruined when the corner of her mouth tugged upward in a smirk. 'Subtlety was never a strength of yours,' she agreed, moving her hand so that it propped up her forehead instead of her chin.

Vin hummed in agreement, taking the opportunity to nose at the corner of her jaw. 'But it still works.'

'You're _impossible_.' Her effort to ignore him was a valiant one, but she eventually caved, leaning into him slightly.

That made him huff a quiet laugh, and he kissed the corner of her mouth. 'You got it, baby.'

'Vin, I don't _do_ pet names.'

'Sure, sure.' It was obvious he wasn't listening, seemingly more interested in . . . _petting_.

'You're a cocky little shit, you know that?'

This made him pull away a little, if only to grin at her. ' _Always_.' Then, if only to prove her point, he leaned forward and kissed her properly. Zero made a little noise of surprise, because in all honesty she still wasn't used to this, even after a few days of Vin stealing kisses left, right, and centre. That wasn't to say that she didn't steal any _herself_ , just she was more outright about it. Nevertheless, she was more than happy enough to get into it _properly_.

'You know,' she mumbled between kisses, 'I think I'm gonna keep this jacket. It's _really_ freaking warm.'

'Told you,' he replied, hand sliding from hera knee up to her waist. 'I'm never wrong 'bout these things.'

' _Sure_ you aren't.'

'Shut up and kiss me properly, woman.'

She couldn't help laughing at that, accidentally knocking their foreheads together. 'Then what the hell do you call _this?_ '

'G rated.'

'Oh _shut up._ '

* * *

 **Chapter Title: "You Got It", New Kids On The Block**

 **Quote: "Classic", MKTO**


	18. Here's To Never Growing Up

**Oh whoops look what I found in my INK folder. Maybe I should finish this or something.**

* * *

 **Day 18 - Teasing**

" _This ain't about no losin' sleep; it's all about the love you keep."_

* * *

'. . . and I think it's a load of rubbish personally, but hey, what can you do?'

'Literally _anything_ else,' Zero groused. She shuffled slightly, adjusting her position where she was hanging upside down from her favoured bar, and shot Newton a pointed look. 'And why are you asking _me_ for advice? I'm _hopeless_.'

'She's got a point,' Trixie added, not looking up from her phone. ' _Really_ , Newton, your standards are slipping.'

'Oh _shut up_ ,' Zero grumbled.

Trixie smiled sweetly. 'You prefer it if I'm honest, honey. Pick your battles.'

'You're _terrible_.'

'Naturally.'

'I give up,' Newton said, shaking his head slightly. 'You both _suck_ at giving advice.'

'We're women,' was Trixie's simple reply. 'It takes us an hour to get to the point, and that's only useful if anyone's still listening.'

'Yeah, well, that's not helping anything. It's like – oh hi Vin.'

'Hey,' Vin replied, hands stuffed in his pockets as he came to stand beside Newton. 'What's up?'

Newton opened his mouth – most likely to launch into a full-on tirade over what he had been talking about – and Zero let out a long-suffering groan, clapping her hands over her ears. 'Nope. Not doing this again. _Nope_.'

Vin tilted his head at her, the corner of his mouth tugging upward in a lopsided grin. '"No", _what?_ ' he asked, taking a slow step forward. 'Someone's got a stick up her ass today.'

'I do _not_.'

The grin grew bigger, and Zero knew there was no reasoning with him _now_. He was in one of _those_ , moods - the playful kind that turned him into an absolute little shit – and she definitely wasn't going to come out of this as the winner. She wasn't a _moron_ , damn it.

Despite that however, she still held her hands out in front of her protectively. That didn't work very well considering she was upside down.

'Vin, don't you _dare._ '

'Don't what?' he asked innocently, taking another step. Then another.

'You _know_ what – _argh!'_

Despite however the story may have been retold, Zero most _certainly_ did not shriek. She just . . . yelped. In a very high pitched manner.

Vin grabbed her around the midriff and pulled her clean off the bar, happy enough to let her flail in an attempt to regain bearings while he laughed like an idiot, spinning them around. Don't get her wrong, she made a _valiant_ effort to kick him in the head, but that all came to nothing since she _really_ didn't care enough to try. Whatever. He could have his moment.

'Don't _what?_ ' he teased, finally coming to a stop.

'You're such a _jerk_ -'

'Oh, then should I do _this?_ ' And then, like the little shit he was, he hooked one hand around her torso and another behind her knees, before promptly turfing her over his shoulder.

'VIN!'

'Was that not right?'

'Oh my _God_ -'

Behind them, Newton and Trixie were laughing uproariously like the assholes they were. Zero gave them the finger, but to no avail.

'I have a _reputation_ you shitheads!'

' _Please,'_ Trixie grinned, 'you lost whatever "reputation" you had the second you decided to date that moron.'

Vin made an offended noise. 'Hey, you're just jealous that _I'm_ the one who gets this _fantastic_ ass.' Grinning broadly, he then made a point to smack Zero's butt with his spare hand. Funnily enough, this only _heightened_ her efforts to kick him in the face.

Trixie made a poor effort to hide her laughter behind a cough. 'Excuse me, I have _standards_.' Newton burst into raucous peals of laughter, clutching his stomach for support, and Vin snorted rather ungracefully.

'Worst lesbian _ever,_ ' Zero muttered grumpily. She was still upside down.

'That _really_ doesn't bother me, honey,' Trixie replied, grinning widely.

'Yeah, whatever – put me _down!_ '

'Oh, all right,' Vin said, feigning mock exasperation. He then promptly let go.

Nonetheless, it was easy enough to say that she didn't hit the ground very gracefully. She yelped and managed to bounce off her palms into some semblance of a dive roll, but she still ended up covered in grass, with her hair sticking up in all directions from the static.

'I hate you,' she told him, sticking her hands pointedly on her hips.

He simply grinned like the loon he was. 'Whatever helps you sleep at night, babe.'

'You're really pushing your luck today, aren't you?'

'Maybe.' He gestured to her hands. 'And that makes you look like a scandalised old woman.'

'You did _not_ just say that.'

'I think I just did.' And just like that, the little shit took off at a sprint, like he knew _exactly_ what was coming for him.

'Get _back_ here you jackass!'

Oh, it was _on_.

* * *

 **Title: "Here's To Never Growing Up" - Avril Lavigne**

 **Quote: "Beyond Beautiful" - Aerosmith**


End file.
